1. Field of the Invention
The presently claimed and disclosed inventive concept(s) relates, in general, to the field of therapeutics and, more particularly but without limiting, to novel compositions and methods for making heparosan biomaterials that are suitable for conjugation to therapeutics for the purpose of enhancing drug action and/or delivery as well as bioreactive agents for biotechnical applications.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Without limiting the scope of the presently claimed and disclosed inventive concept(s), the background of the related art is described in connection with the use of sugar polymers and, more particularly, heparosan as a therapeutic modifying and/or coupling agent.
The presently claimed and disclosed inventive concept(s) relates generally to the field of therapeutics and, more particularly, to the development of enhanced therapeutics through the use of modifying and/or coupling agents and, in particular but without limitation, natural polysaccharides and oligosaccharides such as heparosan. A wide range of existing and near-term therapeutics has great potential, but many possess drawbacks that slow or prevent implementation for aiding human health. Fortunately, the physical, chemical, and/or biological nature of a promising drug candidate may sometimes be assisted by modifying the parental drug. A widely used agent, poly[ethylene glycol] (PEG) has been approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for use with therapeutic “cargo” including small molecule drugs, polypeptides, and liposomes, for example. The process of adding PEG to a drug, i.e., “PEGylation,” has been very successful, as shown in Table 1. The hydrophilic chains of PEG polymers increase the solubility of the cargo in water, protect the cargo when in the human body and prolong the therapeutic action of the cargo. Due to its artificial nature, its chemical synthesis, and its potential harmful effects when ingested in large quantities over long periods of time, the use of PEG has significant drawbacks and alternatives have been sought. The presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is directed to such alternative modifying and/or coupling agents, which overcome the defects and disadvantages of the prior art.